Pokémon X and Y: Mystery of the Calamity Pokémon!
by UkantorEX
Summary: The Taioh region is home to Alvin, an energetic youngster who begins his grand adventure with best friend Rachel. However, in their first big steps into the world, the duo must deal with the sinister Team Ion, which seems to want nothing more than to hurt Pokémon, lead by a man who speaks of calamity and the end of all Pokémon... How are Xerneas and Yveltal involved in what awaits?
1. The Journey Begins

**Prologue**

Pokémon.

A word that ignites a spark in every person's heart, be they young or old, boy or girl. The union of people and Pokémon is among the most precious things life has to offer, a deep-seated trust and friendship that has been forged over the eons. Conflicts between people and Pokémon are a thing of the past. Now, we live alongside one another. Whether we battle with them as Pokémon Trainers, safeguard them as Pokémon Rangers, show off their spectacular performance abilities as Pokémon Co-ordinators, or simply work with them for the betterment of society, people and Pokémon are together always.

The ultimate dream of any fledgling Trainer is to become the Champion, the best their region has to offer.

And for a young boy and a young girl of the Taioh region, known for its diverse roster of indigenous Pokémon from all regions, such an adventure is about to begin…

1: The Journey Begins

_It's today!  
_  
Alvin's eyes snapped open as the morning sunbeams tickled his eyelids from his bedroom window. In just a couple of seconds, despite only having just awoken, his bare feet were on the soft carpet of his room and he sprung from the bed with all the vigour of an excited child.

"Today's the day, Chespin!" he yelped, startling the Pokémon - a Chespin  
- on the chair next to his bed. "Today's the day we challenge the Pokémon League of Taioh! Are ya ready?"

"Pin, pin! Chespin!" Chespin cooed affirmatively with a grin of anticipation and excitement.

"Alright then…" Alvin released his other two Pokémon, Yanma and Staravia, from the Poké Balls around his waist. Staravia trilled and Yanma buzzed with excitement, fully aware of what their day entailed. "Everyone, let's go!" Alvin took one stride toward his open bedroom door before he stopped dead.

"…After I get dressed," he murmured, embarrassed at having nearly embarked upon a region-wide adventure in his pyjamas. He quickly pulled open the top drawer of the chest of drawers situated beside his bedroom window and picked out a forest green tank top and black shorts.  
He also grabbed a camo-coloured cap and pair of green trainers with silver laces and black streaks on the sides - his only shoes - and shoved them into his bag, a silver satchel with a Poké Ball decal starting on the flap and extending to the surface of the bag, with a white clip connecting the flap to the bag, so that when it was open it looked like there was an open Poké Ball on it. Besides his shoes, he had packed as much medicine as he could, and food: a box of poffins and berries for his Pokémon and four sandwiches for himself, as well as a flask of water and some spray to repel wild Pokémon if necessary, although he preferred to meet Pokémon rather than scare them away.

"Okay, _now _let's go!" he announced once again before making a headlong charge down the stairs.

"Alvin, won't you put your shoes on? You can't go gallivanting around in your bare feet all the time; you'll cut yourself!" Alvin's mother sighed, ever concerned for her son's welfare.

"Ma, we've had this conversation like a thousand times, stop nagging me about it, okay? I don't like wearing shoes – that's just how I am. Only if the floor is icy or if there's dress code or something, _then _I'll put some shoes on. Really, Ma, you don't have to worry about me!" Alvin replied.

"But, honey-" his mother began to present another argument, but was cut off by her son.

"Ma, stop!" he groaned. "I'll be fine! Every time I go out you bombard me with 'Alvin, remember to bring food for your Pokémon!', or 'Alvin, don't forget your phone!', or 'Alvin, don't travel barefoot!' Seriously, I'll be fine!" He smiled, reassuringly but his mother, sat at the table in the centre of what was both the living room and the kitchen, didn't look so sure.

"…You're not just going out to train and pick berries with Rachel this time, though, are you?" she murmured uneasily. "…Today's the day you challenge to Pokémon League, isn't it?"

"Uh-huh!" Alvin nodded, still perky, smiling.

"You will be careful won't you?" she asked him.

"Of course I will!" he replied, but his mother still didn't look convinced. Alvin scratched his head, puzzling for a moment, before coming to a conclusion. "Alright, how about this?"

Alvin wrote down something on a piece of paper and gave it to his mother, who studied it carefully.

"It's my phone number. If you're feeling worried, you can call me any time you want? Sound good?"

"…Alright, honey," his mother acquiesced with a smile. "Go on, now!"

"Okay. Bye!" Alvin waved from the doorway, picking up a light jog.

"Stay safe!" his mother called to him, but her son was already too far off to hear her.

* * *

Alvin, Chespin, Yanma and Staravia stood - or hovered, in Yanma's case – at the start of a well-trodden path leading away from the little hamlet he lived in, the entire Taioh region just waiting to be explored. Alvin rocked back and forth on his heels, the earth like velvet against his soles, as he studied his map of the region.

"Alright! Next stop: Yoseo City!" Alvin declared, pointing forward.

"Yan!" Yanma buzzed.

"Chespiiiin!" Chespin yowled.

"Starrr!" Staravia chirped.

And with that, Alvin took to a run, feeling totally free with the gentle wind against his face and the soft earth under his feet…

Until, that is, he fell flat on his face, tripping over. Confused, he looked over his shoulder to find his left ankle bound by a large green vine protruding from the grass. Suddenly, another piece of marauding countryside wrapped itself around his other ankle, yanking it to the ground, forcing him onto his back. He tried pulling his legs towards him, but the greenery was stronger than he was and kept him pinned firmly in place.

Even more confused now, Alvin searched frantically for his attacker, or something, when a shade of a young girl, around the same age as him - fourteen – in a pink, short-skirted dress decorated with blue flower prints came stalking towards him angrily, an adorable Munna floating along by her side.

"Rachel!" Alvin exclaimed, somewhat surprised. In that instant, the vines' grip on his ankles tightened, so much that it hurt. Alvin gasped and winced. "Ow! What the hell, Rachel! Are you doing this?"

"Keep going, Munna," Rachel hissed, her voice quivering with rage, glowering at Alvin with furious blue eyes, her long blond hair being tugged gently by the breeze.

"Ow! Lemme go, you're hurting me!" Alvin squirmed, leaning over the force the green shackles off of him. As he did so, more green appendages, sprung up from around him and tied his wrists to the floor, their grip also tight and painful. He couldn't even feel his feet anymore.

"And don't you "Rachel" me, you dummy!" Rachel screeched.

"What are you on about? Why are you doing this to me? What did I do?!" Alvin squealed. Another vine came out of nowhere and stuck him across his cheek, leaving a big red mark.

"OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" he shouted, a little angry now.

"Because, you idiot, you left on your journey without me! In fact, you didn't even come to say goodbye! I had to catch the word off your mother!" Rachel shrieked, irate, her eyes like daggers. "You know I wanted to come with you! I told you ages ago! IDIOT!"

"Okay, alright, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Now can you please let me go? This _really _hurts, and I won't be going anywhere tied to the ground!" Alvin yelled through gritted teeth, his eyes squeezed shut.

"Not without me you won't, no!" Rachel grunted, lifting her leg up. Alvin's eyes bulged open and he cried out in sincere pain with the little breath he had left, as the rest had left him with the impact of Rachel's heavy brown boot on his stomach. As his restraints released him, he clutched his stomach, rolled over and curled up into a ball.  
Munna, no longer having to concentrate on keeping Alvin in place, turned to Rachel, her eyes filled with a "you've gone too far" look.  
"Muuunnn…!" the Pokémon chimed gravely. Rachel seemed to snap out of her anger-fuelled frenzy.

"Yan! Yanma yan! Yanma!" Alvin's Yanma seemed to be chastising Rachel and although she didn't understand the words, she understood the general tone. Staravia and Chespin threw Rachel angry eyes and frowns as they stood next to Yanma, all of them staring the girl down with judgemental leers. Rachel let out a small, regretful moan, watching Alvin lie almost still on the floor, sobbing quietly as a few stray tears trickled down his cheeks. Rachel knelt down beside him and squeezed his shoulder.

"I'm really sorry. Are you alright?" she probed gently, expecting him to shout at her. He didn't say anything for a while, but he spoke eventually, although she could tell it hurt to do so. She waited for a response, but none came.  
Rachel was afraid that she'd really, genuinely hurt him, but her worries were put to rest when Alvin suddenly sprang to life clutching his stomach not in pain, but in laughter, as he laughed until his abdomen ached and his throat was sore. Rachel growled under her breath, thinking what a fool she was for letting herself think she'd actually hurt Alvin so easily. He was a strong, healthy kid, outside climbing trees or running around practically every day. If Rachel was honest, it would probably hurt more if _he_ kicked _her _in the stomach, and he wasn't even wearing shoes.

"Am I alright?" Alvin gasped amidst his guffawing. "I can't believe you took that seriously!"

"Oh, you!" Rachel huffed, folding arm arms. Munna frowned disapprovingly.

"Oh, relax!" Alvin said, dusting himself off as he got to his feet. "Look, I'm sorry I left without you! I just kinda…forgot," he said, laughing nervously, afraid of Rachel hitting him again.

"You really ought to work on your memory, Alvin. Remember last week, when you came to try and catch a Pokémon that had been stealing food from your house and you forgot to bring Poké Balls?"

"…Yeah…"

"And the time you went camping in the forest and you forgot to pack food?"

"Yeah…!"

Rachel listed several other instances of Alvin's forgetfulness before he finally cut her off.

"Okay, okay! I get it! I'm really forgetful! I'm soooooooooory! Now can we please, please, _please _get going? I can't stand just…well, standing around!" he implored her.

"…Alright, fine. Let's get going!" Rachel consented, somewhat cheerfully.

"Great! Race ya!" Alvin shouted, his voice already somewhat distant as he zoomed off, already far ahead of his childhood friend. Rachel sighed exasperatedly under her breath before she, too, broke into a run, trying desperately to catch up with him.

"Wait for me!" she called after him, her voice vibrating as she ran, her footsteps heavy because of her boots, her small, almost purse-like bag being tugged along in her hand.

Their journey had only just begun.


	2. A Riolu In Distress!

**2: A Riolu in Distress – Kirlia Duo to the Rescue!**

"We're not lost!" Alvin pressed reassuringly, but Rachel wasn't convinced in the least.

"Yes, we are! We're in the middle of a forest with no civilisation in sight! If that isn't lost, I don't know what is!" Rachel argued back. Alvin sighed a sigh filled with frustration and fatigue (more likely due to Rachel's insistence of them being lost than on being tired) and slumped himself down against a tree, stretching his right leg out and keeping his left leg bent so he could rest his arm on his knee.

"Fine, we're lost! Happy?" he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Not really, no!" Rachel snapped curtly, her arms folded, her cheeks flaring crimson with anger.

There was a tense silence for good fifteen seconds.

"Your feet are aching, aren't they?" Rachel asked, almost tonelessly, as if it were an insult.

"Nope," Alvin denied her claim as soon as the words left Rachel's mouth. He looked up from the ground to find himself a hair's length away from Rachel's face, her ice-blue eyes boring into his mahogany brown ones like hot needles.

"Alvin. I know you. I've known you my whole life. I know how long you can last before you get tired. You've already eaten half your food. So, I'll ask again: do your feet ache?"

"No," Alvin said again, a little more firmly.

"Are you sure? Because this is the last time I'm offering," Rachel warned lyrically.

"Offering what?"

"What else? A foot-rub, of course! Or did you forget that I'm the town's resident masseuse, as well? Besides, I need to concentrate on something else before I explode."

"U-um…" Alvin stuttered, not really knowing what to say. She'd given him a massage before, but never on the house. It always unnerved him when Rachel, of all people, did something kind out of the goodness of her own heart, especially for a boy. Then again, they were best friends. Maybe there was nothing shady about it after all. "…O-okay, sure," he consented.

"Alright then," Rachel said. Alvin loosened his muscles and relaxed a bit more. "But just this once! For free!" she snapped, making him jump. As she reached for his foot, Alvin stopped her.

"Wait!" he barked, like the world depended on it. Rachel stopped and eyed him curiously. "If it's for free…could you do my shoulders, too? They're kinda tense…" he asked.

"Okay, whatever," Rachel agreed. "Just let me do this first." She had only just taken hold of Alvin's foot when Staravia interrupted her.

"Starrr! Starrr, Staravia!" the Pokémon chirped, flapping its wings excitedly. Then, Yanma, Chespin and Munna piled on.

"Yan!"

"Piiin! Chespiiiin!"

"Muuuuuuunnnnn?"

"Oh, God, you lot all want massages as well, don't you?" Rachel huffed, sensing the arduous task ahead of her. She couldn't exactly say no, could she? After a few seconds of mental debate, she sighed resignedly and said, "Oh, alright. I do all of you as well. Now shut up so I can start on him!"

* * *

After about an hour of toiling, screeching, buzzing and other noises, not excluding Rachel's terrifying angry shrieks of lost patience, Staravia, Yanma, Chespin and Munna had fallen asleep in a huddle a short distance away from where Alvin lay, leaning forward as Rachel sat behind him, massaging his shoulders. Occasionally, he'd let out of cry of relaxation as Rachel's delicate fingers strummed the right place like a harp, but otherwise the orchestra of the forest was all that could be heard.

"Are you feeling better now?" Rachel asked soothingly. Despite not having had a massage herself, she seemed to have calmed down considerably and was far gentler in demeanour than she had been sixty minutes ago.

"…Uh-huh…" Alvin answered woozily, feeling completely at ease. Rachel's dainty hands slipped away from his shoulders and he slumped back against the tree. As Rachel was fumbling in her bag for something to eat, she caught sight of a dark red line scrawled across Alvin's left cheek.

"Oh, no! You've got a scar!" she exclaimed, almost whimpered, in fact, quickly crawling the short distance across the ground from her bag to Alvin. She gently turned his head to her left a little so she could get a better look. The scar wasn't very large, or particularly noticeable, and it had already begun to scab over, but she still felt it was in need of some treatment. That was Rachel's weakness. She just couldn't help but treat a wound when she saw one. She laid the fingertips of her right hand on his cheek.

"I must have given it to you when I slapped you before. I'm really sorry," she said regretfully. She took her hands away from the boy and fumbled in her bag again, this time producing a small white tub of something. Twisting the cap to open it, she scooped a teeny tiny amount of clear gel onto her finger and delicate ran it across the scar. Alvin winced ever so slightly.

"Sorry. It stings."

"It's fine. And it's fine that you slapped me, too. I shouldn't have left without you."

"No, you shouldn't," she chuckled. "But that wasn't any reason for me to leave a scar."

"Maybe next time you should just skip the foreplay and lead with the kick to the gut," Alvin joked. Rachel laughed.

"Yeah, maybe I should."

"Still, I guess it's nice to know you're kinky. You dream guy doesn't know what he's in for."

"Oh, very mature!"

"Indeed. And devious."

"You're just teasing me to hide the fact that you _loved _it!"

"No, I _really_ didn't!"

"Really…?"

"…Well, maybe if you were that hot blonde lady from Sinnoh or that cute reporter that's always on the news, but you? It was just weird!"

"Oh yeah? Well-"

An animal's cry rang out, interrupting Alvin and Rachel's teasing and sending flocks of Starly swarming from the treetops in alarm, twittering as they fled. Alvin and Rachel fell silent.

"…What was that?" Rachel murmured.

"I dunno," Alvin answered, the two of them listening intently for further sounds.

The animal cried out again, clearer this time. It sounded deeply distressed.

"That sounds like a Pokémon! I think it's in trouble!" Alvin said. He'd already began to run in the direction of the Pokémon before he'd even finished speaking, Rachel following suit without even bothering to ask for him to wait up.

"Are you sure this is the right way, Alvin?" Rachel asked between breaths as she struggled to keep up with Alvin, just about managing to level with him, although she frequently fell a few paces behind.

"Positive," Alvin huffed, not sounding nearly as exhausted as Rachel as he bounded forward, the Pokémon's cries coming at regular intervals now. It wasn't long before they stumbled through some thick bushes to find a small, sun-dappled clearing on the edge of a huge round lake, the water shining brilliantly in the sun, Yanma and Yanmega buzzing over it frantically, going this way and that.

However, it was something else that caught Alvin and Rachel's attention. A Riolu was crying out, its voice growing hoarse and weak. Its leg, which was bleeding, was ensnared in the menacing steel jaws of a bear trap clearly fit to catch far bigger quarry, like an Ursaring. There was nobody in sight. Alvin and Rachel quickly ran over to the Riolu to examine the trap and see if they could figure out how to get it off.

"Stop! Don't touch it!" a voice cried out, causing Alvin and Rachel to stop dead. They craned their necks over their shoulders to see a young woman with green eyes and glossy hair, tied at the right side of her head by a yellow ribbon in a long, spiralling curl draping over her right shoulder and coloured a shade of pink so dark it was almost red. She was dressed in black, skin-tight trousers and a grey top with long, baggy sleeves that was clipped on by two black buttons at the midriff, exposing her stomach. The material from that point separated off into angled appendages that flapped as she ran through the bushes towards Alvin, Rachel and the trapped Riolu.

"Did you see what happened?" Alvin asked urgently, Rachel' imploring eyes begging the same question.

"Yeah, I totally saw it all! There were these scary-looking guys dressed in all black who set that trap! They were wearing balaclavas, though, and I was keeping hidden, so I didn't see their faces, and they just ran away after the Riolu got trapped!" the stranger exclaimed frantically. "Who does that? Trapping a poor, innocent Pokémon! Ooh, I won't forgive them!"

"Wow, that's really low…" Rachel whimpered.

"It's sick," Alvin spat, anger balling his fists. "And they just leave it for dead!"

"Perish the thought, dear child!" another voice, prissy, posh and somewhat aged, resounded clearly. Rachel, Alvin, the mystery girl and the trapped Riolu looked up from each other to see a group of men that fit the girl's description perfectly, accompanied by a middle-aged woman with long, straight grey hair and green, snake-like eyes and lips (or lack thereof). "We just went to fetch some bits and bobs, but we're back for our Riolu now. So run along like good little children, alright?" the sinister woman added. She talked in such a strange manner; every one of her sentences ended in a pitch that curved upward as if posing a query or expressing excitement and she lingered about half a second longer on the letter S than she should, making her sound like she was hissing all the time.

"Who are you? Why are you hurting Pokémon?" Alvin demanded angrily. Staravia, Yanma and Chespin crowded around him, glaring at the pitch-black band of bandits fiercely.

"I am Cashmere, of the most excellent Pokémon distribution organisation, Team Ion!" the serpentine woman answered.

"You didn't answer his question," the oddly dressed stranger cut in sharply, eyeing Cashmere with a keen, owlish gaze. "Why are you hurting Pokémon?" Cashmere laughed in response, a dainty, almost lyrical laugh, so posh and high-pitched it could easily be mistaken for a poor opera imitation.

"My dear, dear child, we don't _want _to hurt the Pokémon we snat- Um, I mean, catch, butsometimes they're less than co-operative, and we have to get them back to the boss, somehow. Orders are orders!" Cashmere replied with all the seriousness of a tipsy partygoer, the laughter that followed only serving to vex Alvin, Rachel and the mysterious girl further.

"I won't forgive you! Kirlia, go!" Rachel shouted, releasing her Kirlia from his Poké Ball. Kirlia glanced back at Rachel, awaiting a command. "Kirlia, use Psyshock!" Rachel ordered. Kirlia hummed idly, raised his arms and then spread them outwards. A hunk of nigh-invisible psychic energy surged towards Cashmere and the Team Ion grunts. Cashmere simply held her arm out straight, a Poké Ball in her gloved hand.

"Liepard, come out and use Dark Pulse!" Cashmere beckoned with a smile. Liepard appeared before her in a flash, and moments later, a dark shadow rippled outwards from it, colliding with the incoming Psyshock, causing it to dissipate entirely. Liepard meowed mischievously. Rachel growled lowly and gritted her teeth.

"Sneaky old windbag…!" she murmured as Cashmere's irritating laugh assaulted her ears.

"My darling girl, I'm afraid your Kirlia is worse than useless against a Dark-type Pokémon like Liepard," Cashmere gloated, her sickly sweet, innocent voice so profoundly irritating that Rachel wanted to rip her own face off and eat it in pure frustration.

"Hers might be…" the strangely dressed girl retorted, taking a step forward, "…but mine isn't! Go, Kirlia, and use Fairy Wind!"

The mystery girl's Kirlia, once it was released from its Poké Ball, began to twirl, slowly at first, then faster and faster until it was a spinning blur, surrounded by a glimmering pink aura peppered with pure white grains of twinkling stardust. At last, Kirlia stopped and, like Rachel's Kirlia when it used Psyshock, thrust its arms outward, loosing Fairy Wind upon Cashmere's Liepard.

"My darling kitty!" Cashmere shrieked at an impossibly high pitch, watching in horror as her Liepard was blown off its feet by the twinkling gust and crashed down before her in a heap with an almighty *thump!*. Liepard meowed meekly before it fainted, unable to battle.

Cashmere simply gazed at the defeated Pokémon before her, shaking like a startled child, unable to countenance or comprehend what had just happened.

"The dazzling Cashmere of the equally dazzling Team Ion…defeated?!" she squeaked.

"Leave. _NOW._" Alvin warned, his face deadly serious, his eyes sharper than knives.

"…A-alright, okay, w-we'll, uh…we'll let you win this time, o-okay? But mark my words, you haven't heard or seen the last of Team Ion!" Cashmere stuttered nervously, before she and her entourage of cronies turned tail and fled shamelessly through the thick foliage, the rustling of shrubbery and heavy pitter-patter of their boots on the ground eventually growing fainter until silence descended once again.

"Those cowards!" the pink-haired girl spat. "Next time I see them, I'll give them what for myself!" she vowed, calling her Kirlia back into her Poké Ball. Rachel also withdrew her Kirlia, and brought out Munna.

"Munna, use Psychic!" Rachel commanded succinctly, painting at the bear trap, still biting into the injured Riolu's leg.

"Muuuuuuunnnnn…" Munna hummed, closing its eyes to concentrate its psychic ability. Slowly, delicately, the malicious device's jaws slackened, stained with blood. However, at this movement, the Riolu's tender, bloody, wounded flesh was disturbed, and pain cut through its leg like a knife, causing it to yowl in agony. Alvin flinched and looked away. He wasn't good with injuries at the best of times, but he couldn't bear to see Pokémon suffer, especially not like this.

"Stop, Munna!" Rachel gasped at the Riolu's cry of pain. Munna ceased her efforts and the bear trap sank its vicious teeth into the Riolu once again, which made it cry out louder.

"NO!" Alvin cried out, tears beginning to trickle down his cheeks. Rachel sighed sadly.

"There's no other way to free him. We'll just have to pry it off, even if it hurts," Rachel said remorsefully. As she opened her mouth to order Munna to use Psychic once again, the mysterious girl stepped in front of her.

"I have an idea," she said, and released her Kirlia from his Poké Ball again. "Kirlia, use Hypnosis."

Kirlia approached the wounded, whimpering Riolu, placed his hands on the Pokémon's cheeks, and, seconds later, the Riolu's eyes slid shut and it was unconscious. The moment it was asleep, Alvin sprang into life and ran to its side, ripping the bear trap's jaws open wide and freed the suffering creature. He growled irately as he threw the horrid thing into the huge lake in front of him with all his strength. As it landed in the water, it created a splash and frightened away some nearby Yanma. He wiped the last of his tears away and scooped the Riolu up in his arms gently.

"Let's get him to a Pokémon Centre, fast!" Alvin pleaded urgently.

"Too right. Yoseo City is the nearest city to us. I can fly us there now – I always bring a Pokémon that knows Fly whenever I leaved the city," the mystery girl said.

"Wait, you're from Yoseo?" Rachel cut in, somewhat surprised. The girl turned to face her.

"Of course! I'm Pixee, the Yoseo City Gym Leader!"


	3. Yoseo City

**3: Yoseo City**

"THIS PLACE IS HUGE!" Alvin exclaimed, awestruck at the sight of the grandiose cityscape that stretched onwards before him. A field of glass, ground and shimmering sunlight, full of people and Pokémon.

"Ches…piiiiiiinnnn…" Chespin cooed quietly, taken aback by the scene. Staravia, Yanma and Munna were all partaking in a stunned silence. Pixee drew a Poké Ball from somewhere within her somewhat scanty clothes.

"Talonflame, return!" she commanded, although she didn't sound in the least authoritarian. In fact, it was more like a suggestion than an order. Nevertheless, the flame-red avian Pokémon disappeared into the Poke Ball in a dim red glow of light.

"How come you have a Talonflame? I thought you said you specialised in Fairy-types," Rachel asked, raising one eyebrow inquisitively.

"Oh, Talonflame isn't my Pokémon," Pixee replied with a slight chuckle. "He belongs to my boyfriend, Corey. Corey's the Brimstone City Gym Leader. You two won't be up against him for a while yet. You gotta get past me first!" she giggled giddily. Pixee jumped as she looked out into a distant road ahead.

"Oh! Oh! Here he is now! Corey!" the Gym Leader called out, gesticulating with a big wave to a red motorbike in the distance as it drew closer to her.

As the motorbike -accompanied by its entourage of superfluous exhaust flames, dust trails and thought-drowning droning- drew up before Pixee, it skidded to a halt just in front of her with a heavy swerve, kicking up one last cloud of dust, which lunged forward at the trio of Trainers, catching in their throats and eyes and making them cough and splutter to expel it all.  
The bike itself was a deep, base red, decorated by black flames with yellow outlines, and it had one huge headlight just beneath the handlebars. Its rider was a tall man in black cargo trousers and a black tank top and black trainers with red laces and red linings. He wore a helmet that matched his bike, red decorated by black flames with yellow outlines, and with a black visor. He was toned, well-built, but not stocky. He pulled his helmet off and tucked it under his arm. His hair was short, red and spiky and his eyes shone a blazing orange.

"Corey! I'm so happy to see you!" Pixee squealed, squeezing her unready boyfriend like a teddy bear. Rachel and Alvin could tell he was suffocating, taken aback, but he managed to move his lower arms and lock them around Pixee's waist in a feeble attempt to return her gesture.

"Hey, Pix," he greeted her back, calmer, but just as happy to see her and she was to see him. They kissed, his arms still locked around her waist. "You've been out of town, huh?" he noted, eyeing Rachel, Alvin and their Pokémon. "Who are these fine specimens?"

"This is Alvin, and this is Rachel," Pixee introduced the pair just behind her. "They're novice Trainers from...from...um...where are you both from?" she asked, a little embarrassed, thinking she had forgotten, when in reality they hadn't told her and she hadn't asked.

"Sasayo Town," Alvin said.

"Ah, Sasayo Town!" Corey mused. "Supposedly where all great journeys begin, so they say...I see. You must be planning to take on the League then, huh?" Corey pried. "You both look pretty tough. I think you'll go far! Heh, ya never know; might even come up against me someday soon! Pixee probably already told you, but I'm Corey, the Brimstone City Gym Leader. "Corey's his name, fire's his game!", as my fans say. Good to meet you both!"

"Likewise!" Alvin beamed.

"Oh, I almost forgot! Here's Talonflame back. Thanks for letting me borrow her," Pixee said, handing Talnoflame's Poké Ball to Corey. "Now that I think of it, I probably should have used Talonflame rather than my Kirlia to scare off those goons from Team Ion, or whatever they were called. Corey's Pokémon are much tougher than mine. Right now, anyway. Ah well, we got rid of 'em, and that's what counts!"

"What's this about a "Team Ion"?" Corey asked, confused.

"It's some gang this bunch of thugs we met in Yoseo Forest belonged to. They caught a Riolu in a bear trap, so we three beat them up and rescued it! In fact, we still need to take it to a Pokémon Centre," Pixee answered.

"What?! These guys sound like real pieces of work! I hope you guys are okay," Corey said.

"We're fine, it's Riolu who needs attention. He's Alvin's now," Rachel cut in.

"Well in that case," Corey begin, before chucking Talonflame's Poké Ball to Alvin, who caught it with two hands, just, "Use Talonflame's Fly and get there quick. She knows where to go. Pix, come with me, we'll meet them there."

"Okay!" Pixee said, locking her arms around Corey's waist as he mounted his motorcycle and sped off back the way he'd came.

"Talonflame, come out and use Fly!" Alvin said, releasing Corey's Talonflame for her Poké Ball. The Scorching Pokémon cawed affirmatively in response, scooping Alvin and Rachel off the ground as they put away their Pokémon and whooshing off to wherever the Pokémon Centre awaited.

* * *

"Your Pokémon have been restored to full health," Nurse Joy said, handing four Poké Balls back to Alvin from over the counter. "We hope to see you again!"

"Thanks!" Rachel said on behalf of both of them was they walked over to the small set of tables to their left and sat down at one closest to the back wall. Bookcases dressed the walls, and just ahead, behind Nurse Joy's counter was the Poké Mart.

"You know, the nurses really should change what they say when you leave. "We hope to see you again!" just makes them sound like they want our Pokémon to get hurt," Alvin contemplated. Rachel laughed.

"You're right! I never noticed that!" she chuckled. A small silence followed until Rachel spoke again. "So, how's the- I mean, your Riolu feeling? Up to scratch?"

At that, Alvin released the new addition to his party form his Poké Ball. The Riolu growled a growl of determination, nodding to Rachel in answer to her question.

"Good. The nurses always do such a great job. I still can't get over the fact that they don't charge," Rachel said ponderously.

"Don't worry; the Poké Mart's extortionate prices more than make up for it," Alvin huffed jokingly. They both laughed.

"How's that scar holding up? Lemme see," Rachel demanded, arching over the short gulf between her seat and his to examine the fairly innocuous wound on his left cheek. It was healing quite well, but it would be another day or two before the scab disappeared. Rachel found her delicate fingertips resting on Alvin's face perhaps a smidgeon too long this time, before she realised she was still touching him and shrank back into her seat as if she'd seen a ghost. For all the times Alvin had fallen over and cut himself, his skin was like silk, even his feet, which the fifteen-year-old masseuse had expected to be somewhat rough after all his walking and running around. She didn't quite understand that one moment, those few null, numb seconds of absentmindedness, but she knew that, as foreign a concept it seemed to her, the way she touched the boy across the table, unlike her clients back home, was someone she wanted to touch for reasons entirely her own.

"What was that about?" Alvin said, withholding a bemused laugh, boring into Rachel with inquisitive eyes.

"Huh?" Rachel slurred, only just re-joining the rest of the world.

"The whole..." Alvin mimicked Rachel's startled relapse from a few moments ago. "Thing."

"Oh, that. It was nothing. I just...nevermind," Rachel shrugged him off, not knowing how to explain her actions because, truth be told, she didn't know either.

"You're definitely something, Rachel," Alvin laughed it off, his tone suggesting that he should expect no less an erratic and unanticipated action from a girl who, not three hours ago, had tied him to the floor and kicked him in the stomach.

Rachel let out an inaudible sigh of relief, her strange behaviour having gone unnoticed. Now she could put this blip behind her.

Or at least, she would have. But it was then that Alvin smiled at her, a sweet, fond, warm and welcoming smile, and her heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, her palms were clammy, her mouth was dry as desert sand and her breath was stolen from her as if she'd fallen into a vacuum. Below her waist she buzzed like a hornet's nest and her legs had turned to jelly. Within just a couple of seconds the room temperature seem to have risen tenfold, just like her heartbeat. How it raced, like a thousand drums! It frightened her. She'd never known this feeling before. What was this insatiable lust she felt, rising to the surface from deep within the recesses of her soul?

That gentle smile...that handsome face...

Rachel longed to cradle it in her trembling hands as if she'd been waiting her entire life.

But, above her burning questions about how she felt and why, one particular query pressed more than the rest: why only now?

"Hey, you two!" Pixee's cheery voice beckoned from the door of the Pokémon Centre, Corey by her side.

"Boy, you two got here fast!" Corey remarked, astounded. The couple strode toward them to sit in the two empty seats on either side of Alvin and Rachel, Corey sitting beside Alvin and Pixee next to Rachel. Alvin handed a Poké Ball to Corey.

"Here's your Talonflame back. Thanks for letting us borrow her," he said politely.

"No problem, seriously!" Corey replied. "She's a fast one, right? Even faster than my bike!"

"Yeah!" Alvin agreed. "I've always wanted to see a Talonflame up close. I used to watch that show when I was a kid. Y'know the one, where there's a talking Talonflame that teaches you type matchups. I can't remember what it was called...ah nevermind. Anyway, I can cross that one off my bucket list!"

As Pixee opened her mouth to joint he conversation, an urgent scream made the four of them jolt.

"NO! FLOETTE!"

Without even conferring amongst each other, Alvin, Rachel, Corey and Pixee sprang into action, bolting out of the Pokémon centre and into a busy town square to see a crowd of people gathered around a small pack of men and women in blue and silver outfits -blue suit and silver trousers and ties for the men and the same for women, but short silver skirts. They each had an insignia emblazoned on the left side of their suits - a black Y shape with three silver dots on each tip and one in the middle. Not unlike a diagram of...

"Team Ion?" Alvin speculated.

"I'll bet!" Rachel hissed.

"LET GO OF MY FLOETTE! GIVE HER BACK RIGHT NOW!" the voice, a little girl's, shrieked again. The -supposedly- Team Ion grunts laughed in brief unison. As the Alvin and co. pushed through the crowd into the centre, they could hear more voices.

"Shall I tell you something, little girl? I'm sure you'd love to hear it," a sinister, snake-like, silky smooth voice hissed venomously.

"NO! I DON'T WANNA LISTEN TO YOU! JUST GIMME BACK MY POKÉMON!" the little girl screeched.

"Shut your mouth, ya dumb kid! The boss is speaking!" one of the grunts snapped.

"Was that a "yes please, mister!"? Well, alrighty then, since you asked so politely, I'll tell you! This Floette, this Pokémon, this little thing here...it's an abomination..."

Finally, the foursome sliced into the centre of the commotion.

"Nobody's interested! Give back this kid's Pokémon, you thief!" Alvin interrupted, glaring at a tall young man dressed in a black haori. The man had golden, serpentine eyes, thin lips and medium-length silver hair, tied at the main a flowing down his back. His left arm was concealed beneath a long, flowing piece of black fabric. The man gasped theatrically and clasped his chest with his hand, feigning shock and distress.

"Me, a thief?! You slander me, kiddo! I was just explaining how this Pokémon here...deserves to die!"

"What are babbling about?! What do you mean it "deserves to die"?!" Rachel barked. She, Alvin, Corey and Rachel each drew a Poké Ball defensively.

"Yes, it deserves to die. They all do, all Pokémon. They're nothing but hazards to our health and our welfare, our safety! All they do is maim and injure, if not us, then one another! And that's where we, Team Ion, come in!" the man ranted. "A calamity will soon come to pass, a great disaster that will ensure the extermination of all the world's Pokémon! And I, Setsumaru, leader of Team Ion, am going to make it happen! You'll all see soon enough," he continued, laughing sadistically to himself.

"What...?" Corey muttered under his breath.

"In the meantime, I guess just this one will have to suffice!" the man - Setsumaru - said with glee. He then threw the Floette he had clasped in his hand to the floor viciously.

"Floooo!" the Floette squeaked in pain, squeezing its eyes shut and clutching its red flower as if hoping for some kind of moral support.

"Oh no!" Pixee cried. Setsumaru produced a Poké Ball from within his robes and opened it, releasing a large and intimidating Toxicroak.

"Crooooak!" the Toxicroak growled menacingly.

"Toxicroak, use Poison Jab!" Setsumaru ordered, a sick smile twisting his barely existent lips. The Toxicroak slammed its foot down on the Floette, which was desperately trying to crawl away, listening to it squeal again. The crowd gasped. A few tried to intervene but were shoved back into the mass by the Team Ion grunts. Toxicroak raised its arm high.

"Toxi..." it gurgled, before slamming its arm straight down into the Floette, the sharp, nasty, crimson blade-like protrusion on its hand piercing the suffering Pokémon's tender skin. The Floette screamed in pure agony.

"STOP IT!" Alvin cried out, his voice choking up. He released Chespin from his Poké Ball. "VINE WHIP!" he yelled.

"PIIIIIN!" Chespin squealed with determination as it flung a cluster of green whips at Toxicroak. Tines wrapped themselves around Setsumaru's Toxicroak's arm. Chespin pulled using all of his might, trying to pry the Pokémon's malicious barb out of the Floette's chest. The Toxicroak simply cut himself free with the wrist-blade on his other arm.

"Drapion!" Setsumaru beckoned, releasing one from another of his Poké Balls. "Use Cross Poison on that pest!" Chespin was helpless to defend himself against the super-effective onslaught now headed his way.

But Alvin wasn't.

Alvin quickly shoved his Chespin out of harm's way, a harsh scream escaping his lips at Drapion's poisonous razor pincers sliced across his chest in an X-shape like knives. He felt two white-hot slices across his skin, followed by searing, blinding pain, before he hit the floor with a thump.

"NO!" Rachel howled, her emotions overtaking her. Munna, floating beside her, did not even need to be asked to act.

"MUUUUNNNNNNN!" the Dream Eater Pokémon hummed angrily, loosing a wave of psychic energy upon Drapion and Toxicroak. Drapion was unaffected, of course, due to its secondary Dark type, but Toxicroak was whisked off its feet with a croak and slammed to the floor at its owner's feet, unconscious.

"Drapion..." Drapion murmured with sinister glee. Its pincers glowed a dim crimson - Night Slash, a move that would utterly destroy a Psychic-type Pokémon like Munna.

"Magmortar! Earthquake!" Corey bellowed, bringing out the aforementioned Pokémon.

"Mor! Magmortar!" Magmortar boomed triumphantly as the ground shook violently beneath Setsumaru's Drapion's feet. The Drapion scuttled around unsteadily, trying to keep its balance against the Ground-type move.

"Now, follow it up with Fire Blast!" Corey ordered with a smug grin. Magmortar pressed one of its cannon-arms against the stunned, dizzy Drapion's chest. A faint glow, and high-pitched charging sound...

A bright white light blinded all for just a few moment. All the people, who had began to flee when the Pokémon battle royale took off, felt the air rise several degrees, even from metres away. When the world phased back into sight, several metres of the concrete ground around the epicentre of Magmortar's Fire Blast were charred and branded by jet black scorch marks and even small embers. Exactly the same applied to Drapion, lying in a charcoal-black heap on the floor at Magmortar's feet.

Setsumaru, his suited lackeys cowering behind him, drew for his third and final Poké Ball, but did not unleash to Pokémon within.  
"I think I actually just might lose if I continue on! Hence, I shall make a strategic withdrawal at this juncture. Even for me, it'd be hard to handle three scary people like you!" he said, although his sincerity belied scathing sarcasm and withering condemnation. At this point, Setsumaru returned his fainted Pokémon to their Poké Balls and released his third Pokémon, a Seviper.

"Seviper, use Haze!"

(unfinished)


End file.
